


Brave

by TortiTabby



Series: Bingo fics 2019! [4]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Apocalypse, Broken Bones, Destruction, Fear, Happy Ending, M/M, No Character Death, Open Ending, trapped somewhere
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2021-01-05 15:07:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21210566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TortiTabby/pseuds/TortiTabby
Summary: A vacation on the Isle ends up being the worst and best place to be at the start of the end of the world.





	Brave

**Author's Note:**

> thank you asher for being my beta and doing it so late and last minute!  
  
for my squares: apocalypse, trapped somewhere, destruction.

Phil loved his home in London with Dan. He loved the hustle and bustle of the city. Sometimes he craved the quiet peace of the Isle where his parents lived- the smell of the ocean and the chill of the breeze coming off of it, the Lester’s laughing and joking. They always included Dan as one of them and never gave it a second thought. 

His parents were away for the day, out visiting his aunt and leaving before the sun came up. Dan was still sleeping soundly sprawled across the bed and Phil was wide awake far too early. 

He was in the kitchen when he felt it. His glass shook and danced along the counter until it fell straight off, shattering in the process. 

He looked up to find pictures falling off the walls and books seemingly jump from their shelves. He cocked his head to the side in confusion when the crashing of all the glasses from the cabinet behind him shocked sense into him. 

They were having an earthquake. They were having an earthquake on the Isle of Man and it was a  _ bad _ one. 

He looked up as the house groaned. A wide ominous crack split up the side of the wall. It made another, god awful groan that made the hair on Phil’s neck stand up and he knew the roof was coming down. He had a fraction of a moment to duck under the dining table while it crashed around him. 

He violently coughed the dust from his lungs as the debris cleared. The shaking ceased and he was met with a house that was too still and quiet. He wasn’t quite sure how he made it out of that one. He wasn’t sure he had ever thought so quickly on his feet, Dan would have trouble believing it-  _ Dan _ . 

Phil scrambled to his feet and almost fell back to the ground at the sight of his parent’s home. It was destroyed. Cloud filled skies poured in where the roof gave way. The ground was covered in broken possessions and dust and the kitchen sink was spraying water from where the faucet used to be. 

The hallway to the guest room Dan was previously still sleeping in was gone. The entry wasn't there anymore and in its place was a mountain of rubble.

“Dan!” Phil yelled and ran forward. He couldn’t see much but the sight of the island sky was unmistakable. The roof over their bedroom was completely caved in.

“ _ Dan _ !” The yell came out strangled and unfamiliar to his own ears. He couldn’t face the options in front of him. There were a handful of possible scenarios and he refused to touch them.

“Phil?” 

Phil’s knees buckled and he nearly fell into the mess. He was alive. 

“Dan? Can you get out of there? Follow my voice!”

He was met with a heavy silence that made his stomach squirm. 

“Dan?” he called out weakly.

“I think there’s a way over by where- where the entryway used to be.” he heard call back weakly.

“Okay. That’s good. Do you think you can get over it?” 

Something was wrong.

“Phil.” Dan’s voice was eerily calm. “I can’t do that. You’re going to have to come to me, okay?”

Phil’s heart thrummed hard against his chest. It was wrong. Dan was too calm.

“Okay? Dan, are you alright? I didn’t think we could get an earthquake here. We need to call my parents do you think they’re okay? Can you just come out here?” Phil could hear the terror in his own voice as it shook.

“Phil, I’m sure they’re fine. Are you coming over here?” He sounded impatient.

Phil gingerly walked through the house, each step shaky and precise. The layout of the entire house was unrecognizable and panic clawed at the back of his throat as he moved onward. He overshot the room and ended up near the bathroom until he doubled back. He saw the headboard of the bed they were enjoying a short six hours beforehand and scampered inside of it.

He couldn’t see Dan. 

An old, tall bookshelf that reached all the way to the ceiling was collapsed on the bed. Pieces of the roof were scattered on top of that and Phil couldn’t find Dan anywhere.

“Dan?” His voice came out as a sob.

“Phil! Come here!” Phil hurried forward and saw to his horror that Dan was pinned and half buried underneath the bookshelf and debris. He was pale and there was blood matted in his curls and some shallow looking scratches on his face. 

His eyes were wide when they met Phil’s yet he was unsettlingly calm. 

“What happened?”   
Phil couldn’t humor Dan with a response and instead pushed the bookshelf with all of his might. It didn’t even budge. 

He grabbed a better hold and heaved with all of his strength until his hand slipped and a broken slice of the roof sliced through his hand. 

He cursed and wrapped it in a pillowcase he found nearby. He grabbed the bookcase again-

"Hey! Stop! You already hurt yourself you need to calm down, Phil." Dan sounded scared now and it was like a bucket of ice was poured over Phil's head. He had to stay calm. At least for the time being for Dan. 

He placed a hand on Dan's head and rubbed his thumb under his eye. His cheek was cool to the touch and he felt a wave of helplessness as Dan leaned into his palm. 

"Does it hurt?"

"My leg," Dan gritted his teeth. "It doesn't feel right."

"It was a-an earthquake I think. We'll get you out. I just need help."

Phil's ringtone rang out loudly from somewhere near where the bedside table had been, as if on cue. 

Phil dug through the wood, books and shingles and almost cried with relief when he found it. His mum's face lit up the screen. 

"Mum? Are you guys okay? I need help here. Please-"

"Hello? Phil! An earthquake on the isle. can you believe it? We are rather rattled and are headed to higher ground. You should be fine at the house but they're calling for tsunami warnings. Oh, Phil," her voice cracked, "have you seen what's happening ?" 

It wasn't often that Kathryn Lester sounded so afraid and without hope. Phil couldn't reply. Something was really wrong. He tried to butt in and update her on the situation he was in when she interrupted him again.

"It's sinkholes. A big one in London. Swallowed nearly the whole city. Mar is okay. He was lucky to be out with Cornelia. Spontaneous day up North and it probably saved my boy. But it's not just," she hesitated. "It's every large city. All over the world." 

Phil felt like the room was spinning. 

"I-"

"Phil I just keep thinking about if you were there. I keep asking your father, what happens now?"

" _ Mum _ . Please. The house is bad. It didn't survive the earthquake." He turned away from the scared warm eyes searching his him for answers. "Dan's hurt. He's hurt and he's stuck and I can't get him out." 

"Oh, Phil. I'll try…" he could hear her cup the phone and shouted something at his father. "Oh people's electronics are all dying. It's getting chaotic down here." she sounded scared. He could hear screaming in the background. 

Phil closed his eyes. 

"Mum? Mum get somewhere safe, okay? I'll take care of Dan but just get away from all the people." 

“Call me as soon as you do. We’ll meet at your grandfather’s. I love you.” She hung up before he could reply.

Phil took a deep breath and let it out. 

“What now?” Dan asked in a small voice.

Phil ignored him and dialed the police. He had to get Dan out from under that bookshelf. They could figure the rest out later.

There wasn’t an answer. 

Phil rubbed his hands together and put all of his weight into lifting the bookshelf again. Dan whimpered in pain but Phil saw him trying to push from his end with his free arm.

Phil sighed. “I’m going to go look for help.” 

“I could hear your mum.” Dan said softly, “I wonder where my family was today.” 

Phil stood awkwardly at Dan’s head before bending down and kissing him lightly. “Don’t go there. I bet they’re all fine. We don’t actually know anything. Let’s try to call them?”

“Try my mum.” Dan nodded.

Phil pulled her contact up ad hit dial. His phone flashed, an error message played mockingly, before his whole phone shut down. 

“Right. Okay.” Phil took a deep breath. “I’m going to go find a neighbor. We have to get you out of there.”

Dan nodded and looked away. Phil had to push the crisis of missing family members to the back of his head. He didn’t have time for it. He had no idea what was happening under that bookcase and Dan wasn’t looking any better. He ducked out into the street to find it in chaos. Only a handful of houses collapsed but the air was full of panic. 

A tall, burly man that Phil shared small talk before was in his yard staring at their neighborhood. Perfect.

“Sir! Please, can you help me?” Phil jogged up to the house.

The man looked Phil over in surprise. “Are you hurt?” 

“What? Oh! That’s nothing.” Phil said gesturing to his cut arm. “My- my friend? He’s stuck. He can’t get out from a bookshelf that fell on him and I need help lifting it up!”

The man glanced around him before nodding once. “Lead the way.”

They maneuvered their way back inside of the broken house and just as they entered the room Dan was in the man shoved Phil hard onto his back. 

“Stay in here. I don’t want problems and I’m sorry to do this, Kid, but I have to do what’s right for my family. I’m going to go through your kitchen and then leave. Don’t make me fight you. You won’t win.” He glanced at Dan with an apologetic look before looking away and leaving. 

They sat in silence save for the noisy rifling in the kitchen. 

“What a fucking  _ dick _ .” 

“Dan be quiet.” Phil chastised angrily. The last thing they needed was a man twice their size deciding they were a threat to his family. 

“It’s bullshit Phil. Who does that? Who sees someone trapped under a fucking-”

“Dan. Be quiet, okay? This is bad enough without you getting us killed.”

Dan fell silent and turned his head away from Phil. 

Guilt turned Phil’s stomach and stung his eyes. That wasn’t fair to Dan. He’d apologize. Properly and profusely once they were out of this mess and somewhere safe. He’d answer the door for all of the mail, he’d take out all the trash and do all of the dishes. If there was any trivial tasks left in their lives after this he’d do them all without batting an eye. 

“I’m going to see if he’s gone now. I  _ have _ to get help.” Phil said quietly and climbed to his feet.

“No! Give it a little longer.” Dan pleaded. The color was pulled from his cheeks and Phil could see the pain of his leg evident in his face. Dan was obviously nearing the end of his rope as far as keeping it together went.

Phil bit his lip. “Dan it’s been hours. I can’t leave you under that bookshelf.” He climbed out of the room to the rest of the house and let himself slump onto the floor when he saw they were alone again.

“Phil come back! Phil!” He could hear Dan sob from the other room. “Please, Phil.” 

Tears blurred his vision. He knew if Dan saw he was crying he would just feel worse. 

He wiped the tears and snot down his sleeve and straightened himself up. 

He looked around the mess and spotted a plank of wood. It was nearly as tall as they were and seemed to be fully intact, even after falling from the roof. 

He walked over to it slowly and exhaled for the first time that day. It was like all of the puzzle pieces slotting together. 

He dragged the board back through the room without a word to Dan. When he turned around Dan was staring at him with a pink blotchy face and puffy red eyes. 

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled. That was stupid, I just-”

Phil shook his head and swept the curls out of Dan’s face. “I shouldn’t have left. I’m going to try something and if it works you’re going to have to try to wiggle out. Okay?”

Dan nodded and grimaced. 

Phil slid the board under the bookshelf, trying and failing not to hit Dan’s leg in the process.

“I’m sorry!” Phil squeaked. He got it in position and nodded at Dan. “Ready? One… Two… Three!” He put all of his weight on the makeshift lever and nearly burst into a fresh set of tears when it worked. 

Dan gasped and crawled on his back away from where he had been trapped all day. He let out a strangled yelp when he moved his leg, but he was free.

Phil lowered the bookcase back down, arms trembling with the effort. 

The moment it was down completely he let go and threw his arms around Dan. Dan squeezed tightly in response and Phil felt a sense of calm wash over the both of them. They would be okay. 

He looked down at Dan’s leg. Even through the pajama pants he could see it was bent at a wrong angle. 

“We have to walk somewhere, right?” Dan asked. He didn’t sound upset or scared. He nodded to himself matter of fact. “I think we’ll have to brace it.” 

Phil found another piece of wood that would work and some rope to tie it with and just hoped that after everything was said and done he could forget Dan’s cries of pain when Phil set it with their makeshift brace. They would just have to hope that whatever doctor they could find would be able to correct whatever well intended accidental damages they did. 

Phil slung his arm around Dan as they set out from his parent’s shamble of a house. His grandfather didn’t live too far away but it would take at least three hours of walking with how slow they were moving. It would be dark soon but Phil was ready for the sun to set on a day like that. 

Dan had a backpack full of whatever food that awful man had left behind, as well as a torch they were lucky enough to find. It’d be a long walk but they were ready. 

Dan laid his head down on Phil’s shoulder and murmured praise on how Phil handled today, but he couldn’t soak it in. They had been different kinds of brave. Brave in ways he hoped neither of them ever had to be again. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
